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    Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering
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    Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering
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    Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering
    Ebook467 pages8 hours

    Godslayer: Volume II of The Sundering

    By Jacqueline Carey

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Supreme Commander Lord Tanaros was once human. But he chose darkness and immortality when his wife betrayed him with his king. He killed them both, and fled the realms of Men and now cares nothing for their fates.

    A thousand years passed. His only allegiance is to his master, the dark god Satoris, who gave the gift of Life to the race of Men. Satoris, who rebelled against his elder brother God Haomane who had demanded that gift be taken away. Their fight cracked the very world in two; the name of Satoris became the word for evil throughout all the races, while the legend of Tanaros is the seminal tale of treachery.

    And yet not all tales told are true.

    A final prophecy has begun to unfold, and the races are uniting in their quest to rid the world of Satoris. The elder gods and goddesses, stranded on the other side of the world, send dreams to spur all to destroy Satoris and Tanaros, but those loyal to their god know a different side of the story and try to defend their citadel of Darkhaven, where Satoris sits in sorrow, controlling his own dominion, seeking neither victory nor vengeance.

    Satoris's followers capture the beautiful Elvish princess Cerelinde, and without her the Allies cannot fulfill the prophecy. All who support Satoris clamor for her death-but Satoris refuses to act like the monster that he is made out to be, for he recognizes in Cerelinde a spark of the love that he once bore for his fellow gods.

    She is a great danger to Satoris--and a greater danger for Tanaros and all that he holds dear. For she reminds him that not all women need be false... and that though he may be immune to death, his heart is still very much mortal.

    Strong storytelling with evocative, compelling, and unforgettable characters, Godslayer is the thrilling conclusion to the events begun in Banewreaker, a haunting tale of love and loss that ultimately asks the question: If all that is considered good considers you evil, are you?



    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJun 27, 2006
    ISBN9781429910965
    Author

    Jacqueline Carey

    New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Carey was born in 1964. After receiving BA degrees in Psychology and English Literature, she embarked on a writing career. Kushiel’s Avatar is her third fantasy novel, completing the Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy, which also includes Kushiel's Dart and Kushiel's Chosen.

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    Reviews for Godslayer

    3.5/5

    192 ratings11 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I’d previously enjoyed books by the author of Godslayer, Jacqueline Carey. Her Kushiel books were thick stories of political intrigue in a fantasy world (with more focus on the courtesans than I appreciated, but that happens), and I loved the cover of the first book in this duology when I picked it up… so high hopes ensued.Before I began reading Banewreaker, I had heard a vague rumor around the internet (because I can’t remember where exactly), that the inspiration for the story was a what-if: What If Sauron wasn’t the bad guy Middle Earth thought he was?This sounding like a fascinating jumping-off point- an interesting take on good, evil, and how people can be manipulated into one or the other.What I didn’t count on was that it wasn’t so much inspired by LotR as a near-direct mirror image copy. I tried, really hard, to give the books a chance. I slogged through the difficult-to-get-into first half of the first book, and then found myself having an easier time telling what was going on simply because of the relation to LotR.Yes, there were a few characters that weren’t exact copies of Tolkien’s, but those were few. I found myself annoyed by the lack of originality, and irritated by the total lack of empathy that any of the characters inspired. I’ve always found it difficult to tolerate stories that are blatant rip-offs, but this was one of the worst offenders I’ve ever dealt with.Fast-forward several years, and I found the second book at Half-Price Books, and figured it couldn’t possibly be as dreadful as I remembered. So I bought it. And it took me months upon months to dreg up the interest enough to actually start reading this book.Oh, it was hard to read. Again, it took my a good quarter of the book before I sank into the rhythm of just remembering characters by their LotR equivalents, and the parallels (to be as kind as possible…) grated on my nerves.Add in the fact that it was difficult to read at work based merely on the title… for example:Customer: Godslayer! What a terrible title!Me: It’s a fantasy novel.Customer: Well! Talking about killing gods! (flounces off)Me: (sigh…)…and you get a book that while I was able to finish it, I didn’t enjoy it. At all.Seriously, they even have the White Wizard on a White Horse, convincing the people who are known for their Awesome Horses to fight back against The Bad Guy (who is soooooo emo and not at all sympathetic or A Good Guy), the King of Men taking his throne and wedding The Elf Chick, while his sidekick dies to buy time for The Bearer (of a clay vial and not a ring) and his companion to get down to the bowels of The Bad Guy’s Fortress and enable the death of The Bad Guy by falling into a pit of lava.I am not kidding.
    • 4/5
      I adore Jacqueline Carey--she really is one of my favorites. For some reason, though, this two-book series didn't live up to her other works for me. I suppose I just wanted more from it; the story was there, but I wanted the luscious depth of character and plot and story that I've seen in her longer works (and some of her shorter ones, too!), and just didn't get it. For such relatively short books (compared to other fantasies and her own fantasies, at least), I think the story just may have been spread between too many characters.That said... for readers who read the first book (and you definitely need to read that one first), this one is worth reading if you're at all inclined. I thought this book moved quite a bit faster and was also easier to engage with than the first in the series, so I'm glad I ended up reading it.
    • 5/5
      Forebodingly elegiacal, the tension builds over the course of the book until the ending is as much a realease for the reader as for the characters. I found particularly compelling the position of Sartoris as the "evil" shaper, with Haomane's Allies the "good" characters.

      The striving of all of the individual characters, their loyalty and faith, stood in stark contrast to the absence of the other Shapers in the narrative. One has no idea what their desires or goals are, or even if they know or care about the millions of live and oceans of blood lost in their names. The only Shaper who has any connection with those battling in the Shaper's War is Satoris, which in a way makes him the perfect villain. He's present, which means that his flaws and mistakes can be seen, but not those of the his brothers and sisters.

      I found Carey's writing incredibly haunting, with the inexorable drive towards the fulfillment of the prophecy really gripping.
    • 4/5
      You know what's coming, and yet it's still a punch to the gut. Some things actually caught me by surprise, in some ways, while making absolute sense in the end. The similarities to Tolkien are still very strong, but it brings something new to it as well: the noble enemy, the moral ambiguity. Deaths of characters who would be seen as completely evil from the other side of the argument turn out to be noble sacrifices. A lady gets a chance to kill her side's greatest enemy, and hesitates. Love grows where it shouldn't.

      Carey does not go gently on her characters, or on the reader. She trampled all over my heart in pointy high heels and dug them in, hard.

      There is no happy end. In fact, the implication is that it's a cycle, and it's all going to begin again. Despite the fantasy, the characters and choices and the ongoing nature of the story are all so very realistic.
    • 4/5
      sequel to Banewreaker, the pair collected as The Sundering. there's a grandeur to it, the Godslayer forces doggedly trying to outrun both fate and time. and there's a poignancy to the characters, as magnificent in defeat as they are in ascendance. it's a Tolkeinian clash of forces with a world at stake, a larger battle between good and evil. but where it really becomes interesting is: who holds the high ground really on that moral plane? they all have honour, justification, the greater good in mind. all of them choose, or feel in good faith they have no choices. moreover, the story is told from the point of view of those who lose, at which time a world ends, and begins again. but all of them on both sides fight for what they think is right, and they have their reasons - yet they are pawns in the gods' war they can't see, and can never win. and to the extent that they come to know that, and have compassion for those they fight, they may yet change the new world birthed by the end of this struggle, by the sacrifices they make, the blood they shed. a small classic. one book, really, not two, and splitting it into two did no service to the build, or the power of its ending.
    • 4/5
      Summary: In the second half of the Sundering duology, Sartoris's forces have suffered a great many defeats. Their ruse at Beshtanag has failed, leading to the capture of Lilias the Sorceress and the gem of power she holds. Malthus has closed the Ways, and the young boy who bears the Water of Life, the only thing that has the power to quench the marrow-fire at the heart of Darkhaven, cannot be found. Even the foundations of Darkhaven itself seem to be crumbling, as the fortress above prepares for war. But Sartoris holds the Lady Cerelinde, and refuses to kill her, even though doing so may prevent the prophecy that predicts his downfall from coming true. And in the face of all that is arrayed against them, it falls to Tanaros Blacksword, a once-mortal man, to fight for his lord's survival - and his own - until the bitter end.Review: Heartbreaking. Absolutely, beautifully, darkly, compellingly heartbreaking.Godslayer is a direct continuation of Banewreaker, rather than a complete novel with a plot that stand on its own. All of the set-up and much of the worldbuilding has been done in the first novel. In Godslayer, however, we get to see the world that Carey built up so carefully in Banewreaker falling apart, piece by piece at first, and then faster and faster.This series is a retelling, or a take on, or a deconstruction of Tolkien, and there are plenty of parallels to be drawn. (Plenty of places where the parallels fail, too, which is why it was easier reading once I stopped looking for them on every page.) But I think that Carey's world draws on a lot of the structures of epic fantasy more generally, and that a large part of why her story works so well is that her readers are readers of epic fantasy, and we know how things are going to go. In the big, epic battle, the forces of Good and Light will ultimately defeat those of Dark and Evil. What Carey's done is to question who decides which side is the side of Good, and what makes the Evil side evil, and by placing her protagonists on the "Evil" side of the coin, she turns the inevitable outcome of the final battle from a triumph into a tragedy.That feeling of tragedy is one of the things that impressed me most about the book. We know going in what's most likely going to happen - a running refrain throughout the book is that "all things must be as they must" - but every time there's a chance to avert disaster, I couldn't help but hope... and every time that chance slips through the fingers, every time the tiniest coincidence of timing further seals the protagonists' fate, my heart broke a little bit further. Carey's prose is not particularly easy, but it certainly is powerful, and her story provides ample opportunity for her to demonstrate that power over the emotions of her readers. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Fans of Tolkien, and of epic fantasy more generally, should definitely check the duology out; it's a fascinating perspective and a compelling story. I'd suggest having both books on hand at once, though, since it really is one story split into two volumes.
    • 4/5
      Great books, but the 'Kushiel' series is even better. What makes this one really interesting is that the reader gets to see the thoughts and driving forces by the "bad" side.
    • 2/5
      I’d previously enjoyed books by the author of Godslayer, Jacqueline Carey. Her Kushiel books were thick stories of political intrigue in a fantasy world (with more focus on the courtesans than I appreciated, but that happens), and I loved the cover of the first book in this duology when I picked it up… so high hopes ensued.Before I began reading Banewreaker, I had heard a vague rumor around the internet (because I can’t remember where exactly), that the inspiration for the story was a what-if: What If Sauron wasn’t the bad guy Middle Earth thought he was?This sounding like a fascinating jumping-off point- an interesting take on good, evil, and how people can be manipulated into one or the other.What I didn’t count on was that it wasn’t so much inspired by LotR as a near-direct mirror image copy. I tried, really hard, to give the books a chance. I slogged through the difficult-to-get-into first half of the first book, and then found myself having an easier time telling what was going on simply because of the relation to LotR.Yes, there were a few characters that weren’t exact copies of Tolkien’s, but those were few. I found myself annoyed by the lack of originality, and irritated by the total lack of empathy that any of the characters inspired. I’ve always found it difficult to tolerate stories that are blatant rip-offs, but this was one of the worst offenders I’ve ever dealt with.Fast-forward several years, and I found the second book at Half-Price Books, and figured it couldn’t possibly be as dreadful as I remembered. So I bought it. And it took me months upon months to dreg up the interest enough to actually start reading this book.Oh, it was hard to read. Again, it took my a good quarter of the book before I sank into the rhythm of just remembering characters by their LotR equivalents, and the parallels (to be as kind as possible…) grated on my nerves.Add in the fact that it was difficult to read at work based merely on the title… for example:Customer: Godslayer! What a terrible title!Me: It’s a fantasy novel.Customer: Well! Talking about killing gods! (flounces off)Me: (sigh…)…and you get a book that while I was able to finish it, I didn’t enjoy it. At all.Seriously, they even have the White Wizard on a White Horse, convincing the people who are known for their Awesome Horses to fight back against The Bad Guy (who is soooooo emo and not at all sympathetic or A Good Guy), the King of Men taking his throne and wedding The Elf Chick, while his sidekick dies to buy time for The Bearer (of a clay vial and not a ring) and his companion to get down to the bowels of The Bad Guy’s Fortress and enable the death of The Bad Guy by falling into a pit of lava.I am not kidding.
    • 4/5
      The conclusion to the Sundering series, Godslayer, marches us inexorably further toward the inevitable clash between two differing beliefs and two unyielding sides. Continuing on from Banewreaker the story develops into the intricacies and dogged determination of the characters within their pre-ordained role in the fulfilment, or not, of the prophecy. Carey, however, offers the reader more balance in this tale by affording a more sympathetic ear and a greater understanding of the supposedly darker side. As the blurb keeps shouting: ‘if all that is good considers you evil, are you?”For the whole time I read this book I could understand – if not always condone - the actions of all players and I’ll readily admit that in the end I was barracking for the side that wore black! That a final battle was inescapable was obvious, even in the first book, but the actions and interactions and, in particular, the thoughts of the participants offered a valid credence to the outcome and consequences of these. At times the tension was palpable and it was frustrating, and it was saddening, to watch helplessly as events conspired to force the unavoidable finale. The moral of the tale may be: even if there are greater forces leading you to a predestined fate beyond your control, and opposite to your desire, there are many ways to tread this difficult path. If you traverse this road with honour, if you are faithful to your oaths, if you fight with, and for, the survival of loved and loyal comrades and if you are true to yourself; it is the journey that matters, not the end result. This was a grand journey, an epic in the true sense. I wanted a different ending, but I understood it had to be, for, as in reality, with war, there are no winners. Like good fantasy should – it gave me food for thought - and left me wondering too 'what might have been'!
    • 4/5
      I stumbled on this series while putting books back on the shelves at my local Border's store. What I loved the most about it was the perspective it brought to the ideas of black and white, or good and evil. What disappointed me was the way it ended. It is not the first book or series I have read where the author seemed to either lack the vision or courage to really take a bold stand in the resolution of the story.
    • 5/5
      A deliberately derivative mythology that has remarkable, unique elements of its own; a shadow tale of the Tolkien quest that gives us the hearts and minds of every side, most significantly that of the Enemy. This is a heavy, portentous read that nonetheless carries you along, aching all the while. This chapter broke my heart.